Oakland Athletics trounce Seattle Mariners, 8-2

“I’ve never been through anything tragic, and I didn’t understand the value of people wishing you well, but I certainly understand now.”

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics made a triumphant return home Friday night, and much of that was a result of Coco Crisp making a triumphant return to touching home.

View full sizeA security guard moves a chair from the path of Seattle Mariners center fielder Trayvon Robinson, right, who cannot make the catch on a ball hit in foul territory by Oakland Athletics' Coco Crisp in the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Crisp has been battling allergic conjunctivitis, a form of pink eye, for the better part of two weeks. But as Oakland began its six-game Coliseum quest to gain some form of a postseason berth, its dynamic leadoff hitter clearly looked to be in the pink again.

Crisp had three hits, including a homer to lead off the bottom of the first inning, and scored three times as the Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-2, before a crowd of 16,376 and reduced their magic number to earn a playoff spot to four.

The A’s maintained a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels for the second wild-card spot and closed within three games of American League West leader Texas.

Crisp hadn’t played a full game since Sept. 15 and did not have a hit or a run scored in the past 11 games, missing eight of them altogether because of his condition. He was a late call for the starting lineup Friday night, but after successfully going through pregame workouts, he wasted no time showing his importance to the A’s.

Crisp worked a 3-2 count against Seattle starter Blake Beavan in the first, then drilled the sixth pitch over the right field wall for his 11th homer and his first since Sept. 3.

Seattle tied the game on Trayvon Robinson’s solo shot against A’s starter A.J. Griffin in the second, but the A’s regained the lead when Stephen Drew hit a two-run homer, his seventh overall and fifth with Oakland, against Mariners starter Blake Beavan in the third.

Crisp struck again in the fifth, hitting a two-out double down the left field line. The A’s subsequently loaded the bases and Crisp wound up scoring on a passed ball.

The A’s finally broke the game open with four-run seventh, and Crisp was in the middle of it again. He had an infield single during the rally, and wound up scoring on second baseman Dustin Ackley’s errant throw to home plate on an infield-in grounder. Josh Donaldson had a two-run single that put the game away.

Griffin (7-1) pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four. He loaded the bases in the top of the sixth on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch. Sean Doolittle came on to get the last out of the inning, retiring Justin Smoak on a fly to right.

Doolittle served up Michael Saunders 18th homer, a solo shot in the seventh, for Seattle’s final run.

Brandon McCarthy won’t pitch again this season, but he said night that just being cleared to be in the dugout for the A’s final homestand of the season will do wonders for his psyche, and hopefully for the psyches of his teammates.

“It’s going to be really nice, one to cure the boredom from the last couple of weeks but also to get back around the guys and the atmosphere again,” McCarthy said before the game.

McCarthy made himself available to the Bay Area media for the first time since being hit in the head with a line drive on Sept. 5, an incident that subsequently resulted in surgery. McCarthy made a brief visit to the clubhouse during the A’s last home series against Baltimore but stayed only long enough to talk to teammates. He couldn’t stay for the game.

Now he has full clearance to be with the team as it tries to make the playoffs.

“Being in the clubhouse was nice, but it was still kind of limited as to how long I could stay there, and the doctors were kicking me out,” he said. “Now I can be in the dugout and be around and see a game atmosphere again. I think it’s kind of what I need to get my mind off everything and get back to doing stuff and having some mental stimulation again.”

McCarthy said he never feared for his life either before or after the surgery.

“I was aware that there was a possibility something could go horribly wrong, but that wasn’t something that scared me that much,” he said. “I just trusted the people I believed were good at this.”

McCarthy said he can begin limited physical activity and added that he might play catch before Saturday’s game.

“I’ll ride a bike a little bit today, and within a week, I can start exerting myself a little bit more — it’s usually four weeks after (surgery) you can start moving a little bit. I’m starting to go into atrophy here and boredom, so I have to do something physically to get the blood flowing again.”

The pitcher expressed thanks to thousands of well-wishers who responded to his injury and subsequent surgery with concern and sympathy but also encouragement.

“I’ve never been through anything tragic, and I didn’t understand the value of people wishing you well, but I certainly understand that now,” he said. “It’s just nice to hear from people you like to hear from but also from people you’ve never met before. It is touching and it does help, especially when you get in those little moments when you’re feeling sorry for yourself or just feeling lonely or bored. I can’t thank everybody enough.”

Jonny Gomes was named the 2012 recipient of the Dave Stewart Community Service Award. Stewart will present Gomes the award before Saturday’s game.

Gomes, a native of Petaluma, was honored for myriad charitable endeavors but was primarily noted for helping raise money to defray expenses for the Petaluma Little League team members and their families in their venture to Williamsport, Pa.

“You don’t try to win this award,” said Gomes, adding that he considers community service part of the job description of a major league player. “But it’s nice to have an award that has his (Stewart’s) name on it considering his work ethic both on and off the field.”